Another Lucas to keep an eye on / Young actor stars in half dozen films headed to theaters

Published 4:00 am, Friday, October 8, 2004

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Still from the movie "Around the Bend," with Christopher Walken, left, and Josh Lucas.
PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION. less

Still from the movie "Around the Bend," with Christopher Walken, left, and Josh Lucas.
PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO ... more

Another Lucas to keep an eye on / Young actor stars in half dozen films headed to theaters

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"It" boy: Not only is Josh Lucas really hot -- especially when he's staring at you out of the sexiest blue peepers since Paul Newman's -- the young actor also is a hot commodity in Hollywood with a half dozen movies about to be released.

I ask what he attributes his sudden popularity to. "This is a very strange thing to say but I think it's because I haven't done a lot of press," Lucas replies with a smile that signals I shouldn't take his comment personally. "Because I don't have the baggage of a Ben Affleck, directors see me as capable of playing all sorts of personalities."

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His range will be apparent this month when Lucas appears as a character he calls "so nice that he is almost saccharine" in "Around the Bend" and as evil incarnate in "Undertow."

"Not to disrespect 'Sweet Home Alabama' (in which he romances Reese Witherspoon), but that's what I'm largely known for, so it's important for me to show I can do other things. The most fun characters to play are the most demonic," said Lucas, who also took on "Undertow" for a chance to work with innovative director David Gordon Green.

Had the timing been different, the rising star might literally have acquired some of Affleck's baggage. Lucas plays opposite Jennifer Lopez in the forthcoming "An Unfinished Life." "I had no window of opportunity with her because when we were making the movie, she was really in love with Ben. Now that she's married again, I guess I've missed my chance," Lucas jokes.

Anyway, he was involved in his own hot and heavy romance with Salma Hayek, which has since cooled down.

"I'm recently single again," Lucas acknowledges. "You know this business separates you. I've been traveling so much for work, and I haven't met someone willing to travel with me." He can't have searched very hard -- there must be a bevy of lookers willing to follow this hunk anywhere.

Rescuing Ryder: The tie that binds Winona Ryder to the Bay Area has tightened now that two local directors, Finn Taylor and Michael Lehmann, are helping revive her career. The actress, who spent much of her childhood in San Francisco, got her breakthrough role in Lehmann's "Heathers. " Now he's putting together the financing for a black comedy, "Mary Warner," starring Ryder as a woman who accidentally devours brownies laced with marijuana and then finds it difficult to do the simplest tasks. "I'm excited about the idea of doing something with Winona that has a lot of humor in it," Lehman told me. "She hasn't done that in a long time."

Beginning next month, Ryder will star in Taylor's "The Darwin Awards." "Miss Ryder responded immediately to the script and said she wanted to do it, for which we feel honored," Taylor told me. His movie is based on actual Internet awards given to people who do oddball stuff like attach a rocket to an old Chevy to see how fast and far the car will shoot up in the air. Ryder plays a claims investigator who teams up with Joseph Fiennes' personality profiler to analyze Darwin award recipients. Although the two will be portrayed traveling around the country gathering information for their profiles, in fact they will never leave this area. "Oakland and the outer Bay Area will stand in for upstate Washington and the Midwest," said Taylor, who makes all his films around here out of loyalty and to support the local economy.

Lights, camera ...: After a dry spell, several film companies are pulling into town to shoot for at least a few days. Last Saturday, Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner roamed the streets of Chinatown for a scene in "Otherwise Engaged," a sequel of sorts to "The Graduate." Aniston's character learns that her mother may be the model for Mrs. Robinson, a hard concept for most daughters to digest. The next night, Costner repeatedly entered the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and headed for an elaborate staircase. Cameras rolled until 11 p.m., causing part of Powell Street to be closed to traffic. Costner, who got married Sept. 25, didn't have much time to honeymoon before reporting to work.

Meanwhile in Alameda last weekend, some military scenes were shot for "Triple X" starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ice Cube. Extras had to submit to getting a buzz cut to be in the movie. Finally, the cast and crew of "Memoirs of a Geisha" are due here in January for a three-week shoot.

Goodbye to Janet Leigh: I have lovely memories of Janet Leigh, whom I had the honor of interviewing two years ago for The Chronicle Film Series. The day of her appearance, I phoned her hotel to welcome her to San Francisco but didn't get a response. Miss Leigh called back to say she had gotten hungry and walked over to a Burger King to grab a bite. Her upbeat personality shone during our spirited onstage conversation. Miss Leigh, who had just come from bridesmaid duty at the Liza Minnelli-David Gest nuptials, was such an optimist that she was certain their marriage would last.